August L. Mayer, Velázquez: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Pictures and Drawings (1936), displays a well-illustrated catalog of works by and related to Velázquez. Enrique Lafuente, Velázquez, complete ed., : Complete Edition, trans. from Spanish by J.R. Carey and Neil MacLaren (1943), contains an introductory essay followed by a critical catalog, fully illustrated, of all the paintings and drawings considered by the author to be by Velázquez. José López-Rey, Velázquez: Catalogue Raisonné, 2 vol. in 1 (1999), provides a comprehensive and fully illustrated corpus of the artist’s work. Antonio Gallego Y Burín, Varia velazqueña: homenaje a Velázquez en el III centenario de su muerte, 1660–1960, 2 vol. (1960); and Instituto Diego Velázquez, Velázquez: homenaje en el tercer centenario de su muerte, ed. by Diego Angulo Iñiguez (1960), contain transcriptions of all known source material, biographical and documentary, relating to Velázquez. A comprehensive critical bibliography of Velázquez, with analytic indexes—a work of major importance for the study of the artist—is Juan Antonio Gaya Nuño, Bibliografía crítica y antológica de Velázquez (1963, reissued 1973).

Biographies include Carl Justi (Karl Justi), Diego Velazquez and His Times, trans. by A.H. Keane (1889, reissued as Velázquez and His Times, 2006; originally published in German, 2 vol., 1888), a classic monograph, out-of-date yet still an important study of the subject; Elizabeth Du Gué Trapier, Velázquez (1948), a well-documented text of the artist’s life and work that includes not only most of the information brought to light since the publication of Justi’s book but also a comprehensive bibliography; Madlyn Millner Kahr, Velázquez: The Art of Painting (1976), a work for the general reader; Maurice Sérullaz and Christian Pouillon, Velázquez (1981, reissued 1987; originally published in French, 1966), an overview; Enriqueta Harris, Velázquez (1982); Jonathan Brown, Velázquez: Painter and Courtier (1986, reprinted 1988), which offers a useful bibliography and an appendix on issues of attribution; and Antonio Domínguez Ortiz, Alfonso E. Pérez Sánchez, and Julián Gállego, Velázquez (1989), a well-illustrated catalog. Francisco Pacheco and Antonio Palomino, Lives of Velázquez, trans. from Spanish (2006), presents the viewpoints of two of Velázquez’s contemporaries.

Themes and criticism

Works discussing specific aspects of Velázquez’ art include José Ortega Y Gasset, Velázquez, Goya, and the Dehumanization of Art, trans. from Spanish (1972), essays on art with a section devoted to Velázquez; Barry Wind, Velázquez’s Bodegones: A Study in Seventeenth-Century Spanish Genre Painting (1987), an examination of his earliest form of work; Gridley McKim-Smith et al., Examining Velázquez (1988), a study of Velázquez’ technique utilizing both traditional methods as well as X-radiography and infrared photography; David Davies and Enriqueta Harris, Velázquez in Seville, ed. by Michael Clarke (1996); and Jonathan Brown and Carmen Garrido, Velázquez: The Technique of Genius (1998), which examines the artist’s creative process. Also useful are Suzanne L. Stratton-Pruitt (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Velázquez (2002); and Elena Ragusa (ed.), Velázquez (2006).